Actors bring human complexities to life in Chekhov’s ‘Uncle Vanya’

Lori Gilbert Record Staff Writer @LoriGRecord

Wednesday

Feb 27, 2019 at 4:15 PMFeb 27, 2019 at 4:15 PM

As a college student at University of the Pacific in the early 1980s, Nina Thiel’s stage productions consisted of musical theater. A dance major, the closest she got to a classic was a production of “Kiss Me Kate,” based on Shakespeare’s “A Taming of the Shrew.”

Flash forward to 2019 and the mother of young adults has gone back to school, in a manner of speaking, auditioning for and landing a part in San Joaquin Delta College’s production of Chekhov’s “Uncle Vanya.”

“The first straight play I did was after college at Stockton Civic Theatre when I did ‘All My Sons,’ which Richard Garvin directed,” Thiel recalled.

Since then she’s done comedy and dramas, and yes, musicals, but auditioned in December at the urging of SCT performer and Delta student Nicholas Giovannoni. Delta auditions are open to community members, and Garvin has performed in shows there.

“(Giovannoni’s) been talking about how wonderful it is to work with (teachers/directors) Ashlee Temple and Greg Foro, and the depth of their direction,” Thiel said. “I love an educational approach to plays. I emailed both of them and said I was interested. I’d seen ‘Baltimore’ and ‘The Laramie Project’ and thought, ‘this is amazing, meaningful theater.’ That’s what I love. That’s what I want to be a part of.’ ”

Temple cast Thiel in “Uncle Vanya” as Maria, the mother of Uncle Vanya, played by Giovannoni.

“The play is interesting because I don’t think I realized how funny it is,” Thiel said. “Ashlee warned us it’s easy to approach it as brooding Russians and serious. There’s a lot of that in it, but it’s funny when it’s happening. I’m half Russian. and I was thinking of my grandmother, my Baba, when I read it, about that whole generation and how crazy and dramatic they are. You can’t just play crazy and dramatic. What are they after?”

Chekhov is the founder of modern theater, according to Temple, who noted that before he wrote his plays in the late 1800s, characters were spelled out as good or bad. Chekhov made them real, giving them both good and bad qualities.

“Chekhov’s writing is so human,” said cast member Chris Hunter, who was first exposed to the playwright in Foro’s directing class, which worked on pieces from Chekhov’s “The Cherry Orchard.” “The thoughts and feelings of his characters are beautiful. Chekhov is not a lot of people sitting around talking Russian history, but a bunch of people living it. The feelings they have in relation to that are feelings everyone has in their everyday lives.”

“Uncle Vanya” may be set in turn-of-the-century Russia, but it’s not just the costumes, which Temple applauds Jonathan Singer for creating, that transport the characters to 2019 Stockton, Temple said.

“Chekhov is the actor’s playwright,” Temple said. “I don’t know an actor who doesn’t want to do Chekhov as much as possible and isn’t changed by it when you work on Chekhov. Every time I come to Chekhov, I learn so much more I seem to fall more deeply in love with him. The kids made fun of me and call him my movie-star boyfriend.

“His plays are the first type to … represent human beings as multifaceted and deeply flawed, with good moments and bad moments. They’re complex characters. He’s about relationships. There are dramatic moments in the plot, but most of it is about relationships between people and how that changes in different ways.”

Anyone in any time frame can appreciate those themes.

“Uncle Vanya” is about an elderly professor, played by Hunter, who returns with his beautiful, younger second wife, Yelena (Dhestiny Auer), to the rural estate that supports their urban lifestyle. Two friends — Vanya (Giovannoni), brother of the professor’s late first wife, who has long managed the estate, and Astrov (Navaz Khan), the local doctor — both fall in love with Yelena. Sonya (Arianna Hovey), the professor’s daughter by his first wife who helps Vanya run the estate, is in love with the doctor. In addition to the love triangle, conflict arises when the professor announces plans to sell the estate.

Chekhov plays are a challenge for performers, not just because of long stanza of dialogue, translated in this version by Annie Baker, but because of the things that are not said, according to Temple.

“You cannot act the lines,” Temple said. “The lines are just on the surface. One thing Chekhov said is that theater should be just as life is. People are living their lives, eating dinner, yet their hearts are breaking or being opened with happiness. All of this stuff is happening underneath.”

Because the stories are of real humans, they remain relatable, although the 22-year-old Hunter said its been a challenge to find his connection with the elderly professor who's twice his age and has a grown daughter.

“He’s talking about how he has a pain in his leg and my leg’s fine,” Hunger said. “I’ve been working on finding that aspect of the character. I don’t want to just get up on stage and play someone old. That would be boring. It’s harder to relate to him but I’m trying to find that experience.”